


The Workings of Haus Anderman

by ExtraPenguin



Category: Honor Harrington Series - David Weber
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Prequel, Underage Drinking, Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-11 20:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraPenguin/pseuds/ExtraPenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots chronicling the lives of the (great-)grandspawn of Emperor Gustav IX.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chien-lu the Oberleutnant

**Author's Note:**

> This would happen sometime in the late 1850s PD.

Oberleutnant der Sterne Chien-lu Anderman tried his best not to blanch upon swimming into the elderly destroyer's boat bay. Surely they wouldn't assign the Emperor's nephew (and the man fourth in line to the throne) to this rustbucket?

Actually, that wan't really fair. The _IANS Rostlaube_ was in rather good shape, structural integrity-wise. It was merely that, well, her complement seemed to have no concept of cleanliness whatsoever. What was Chien-lu supposed to do, beat people on the head with a mop until they saw the light and became self-motivated to clean? Play maid? Magically fix everything merely by the virtue of being the Emperor's nephew?

 

Later that week, Chien-lu was in the Captain's chair as officer of the watch. The only other person present was an elderly NCO, who by the looks of her was probably one of the last pre-prolong people left in the service. She had also apparently been aboard the ship for much longer than Chien-lu.

“Excuse me, PO... Schatte, but have you any idea why everything on this ship is so … haphazard?” he ventured after some consideration.

“Well, Oberleutnant, one thing you've gotta understand is that the _Laubechen_ is _old_. She never gets the cream of the crop, y'know?” Schatte said, in a drawl that hed never heard of New Potsdam. “Actually, most'f the time, she's … well, _punishment duty_. I tell ya though, she deserves better. Why, she's been kicking pirate ass in Silesia since before yer folks even thought of reproducing!”

 _If this ship is punisment duty, why did_ I _get sent here?_ Subconsciously, Chien-lu switched into what was well-known to be the refined accent of the Andermani elite. “Well, PO, even if this ship _is_ punishment duty, I'd at least want to get everything into perfect working order. It simply won't do to have the personnel slacking off inste-”

“Look, Oberleutnant, who died and made ya Captain? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it'd've been all over the news if ya'd become Emperor.” Chien-lu's incredulously gobsmacked expression prompted her to continue: “Look, yer acting like ya own the place. If ya _were_ the skipper, I'd heartily agree. Since yer not, I'm just gonna recommend ya forward the issue to yer superior the Tac Officer and, most importantly, _keep yer privilege in check_.”

“Privilege?”

“Yer privilege of birth, leading to yer privileges of being rich, speaking that accent, not having to worry about consequences–don't give me that look, yer folks could bribe yer way out of anything short of treason–and, oh, considering _absolutely everything_ as yer very own problem. Well, thing is, in the military, yer just another Oberleutnant der Sterne. They don't see– _shouldn't_ see–the faces of Prince Lan-dao and the Herzogin von Rabenstrange hovering over yer shoulders, making people like ya because of their fear of yer parents. – Oh, and since it's gonna be yer next objection, intent doesn't fix anything.” At that, the PO turned back to face the helm.

It was some time before Chien-lu spoke.

“I'll try, PO.”


	2. Introduction of Grandspawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c.1828 (a date I arbitralily picked as Gustav XI's birthyear)

Gustav X had spent some time considering the choice, but in the end he was certain.

He'd decided to limit his search to Prolonged officers. There had been quite a smattering, and for the choice between the final three, he'd conferred with his wife.

Ah. There was the young, if capable, Lieutenant Zao Morgenstern. Gustav walked towards her.

“Good morning, your majesty. What brings you to me?” she asked with a polite confidence Gustav appreciated. It wouldn't do to have Totenkopfs cowering in fear at the sight of their Emperor, now would it?

“Serious business of the most joyous kind. Your eminent success last month requires a promotion. Congratulations, Captain”, the Emperor said.

“I live to serve, Sire.” Morgenstern's tone gave away only her satisfaction, even though promotions were usually not announced by the Emperor. Then again, she had averted an attempt to murder the pregnant Empress Consort Maijing.

“Now, a promotion is far from enough of a reward for saving my wife and unborn son.” At this, Gustav saw Abendroth giving a twitch so minute he might have imagined it. The imperial tradition was not to announce the sex until the birth. Gustav smiled and continued, “And since you have proved yourself so adept at it, I might as well have you be the one to do it in the future.”

At this, Abendroth's eyes widened minutely, and Gustav saw her allowing her eyebrows to rise.

He switched to a serious expression. “The task will not be easy. A large amount of people will want to harm him for whatever reasons of their own. I give you the child as a charge, and I fully expect you to return me the Crown Prince.”

Captain Abendroth put on an expression of distilled innocence. “I take it you're economising on the babysitters, then, Sir?”

It was a full three minutes before His Imperial Majesty could stop laughing.


	3. Of Teenage Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chien-lu and Gustav drink, occasionally stupid teenagers that they are.

Zao Morgenstern was still in the room only because the Crown Prince trusted her enough not to insist that his rooms were perfectly safe and could she please guard from the other side of the door. In fact, the teenage Gustav appeared to be under the delusion that his personal bodyguard didn't report to anyone. If he wasn't, he'd have ordered her out before proceeding to demolish the bottle of fortified rosé with his cousin Chien-lu.

Zao herself was eager to see the boys off to sleep so she could make her nightly report to the Emperor, but alas, they were still awake. Drunk and leaning on each other, yes, but still awake. She idly wondered how thay's explain the hangovers to their parents. At least they weren't puking anywhere.

“Eh, Chien-lu, why we doing this?” Gustav slurred out with only a modicum of difficulty.

“Wha'? Leanin' on yah?” Chien-lu slurred, much more obviously drunk. Well, he was a year younger, short and skinny.

“Drinking, doltie”, Gustav said, exasperated.

“I thought we'd finished th'bottle.” Chien-lu probably intended to make that a question, but failed miserably. Gustav sank his face into his hands.

 _They probably thought it was a good idea_ , Zao thought, resigning herself to spending the night awake. _It probably was, too, in their teenage brains._ One might have expected Gustav to do most of his ridiculously stupid teenage activities at age fourteen or so, but it seemed he'd waited another two years to do anything. Hopefully not to rope in the now thirteen-year-old Prince Huang.

Chien-lu collapsed bonelessly into Gustav's lap. To Gustav's credit, he managed to halt his erstwhile cousin's descent before Imperial skulls hit the floor. A long night, indeed.

 

*~*

 

The sparkling fortified rosé straw wine had been one half of a gift from the Manticoran ambassador. The other half had been another bottle of the same, truly awful stuff, which had been politely drunk at the dinner the ambassador had held. Miraculously, everyone had survived the experience.

Ignorant of this valuable piece of data, Chien-lu had sneaked into the wine cellar on Gustav's behalf, grabbing the bottle by chance. (Also because it was on the bottom shelf, where the 157-centimeter-tall Chien-lu could easily reach.) Now, they had plonked it down on the small table in Gustav's rooms.

Chien-lu glanced meaningfully at Zao. Gustav shook his head and assured him she wouldn't tell anyone.

“So, how are we supposed to open this thing?” Chien-lu asked after a while. Zao felt a bout of laughter coming on, and firmly suppressed it.

“Father uses these bizarre twisty things when we're dining with just the family”, Gustav supplied. All right, now she could concentrate on despairing over how the Crown Prince's vocabulary lacked the word _corkscrew_.

“Where are we supposed to find one?”

The boys looked at each other, then finally Gustav dug out an archaic pencil (the Imperial Family was practically its own chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism) and levered out the cork. The bottle started fizzing, and he nearly dropped it in his startlement. Zao resisted an urge to facepalm.

Gustav looked at Chien-lu. Chien-lu looked at Gustav, then the bottle, then finally settled his gaze on Gustav. “You begin.”

At this, Gustav took a determined grip on the bottle and raised it to his lips. It was plainly obvious from his grimace that he didn't like the taste.

The bottle was passed to Chien-lu. It looked like he didn't like it, either.

 

*~*

 

“What's it like, being Crown Prince?”

“Boring”, Gustav said. The sun had long since set, leaving the room illuminated only by a table-lamp pretending to be a candle. “All the herzogs' sons talk about is how they've got the tallest, skinniest, curviest, prettiest, whatever-est girlfriends, and that's everyone I ever talk to!”

Chien-lu made a commiserating noise. “And the daughters?”

Gustav groaned. “They gossip about boys. And they just giggle when I try talking to them, anyway. And if I appear interested in one, my father's … what were they – oh yes, _minions_ – fall all over themselves to retrieve me.”

“You ever miss not being the Crown Prince?” Chien-lu tilted his head.

“I just want to punch Zhyaowan Lichtenstein if he goes on _yet another_ tirade on how his Havenite immigrant of a girlfried is the tallest, prettiest, curviest, et cetera, woman in the Universe.Well”, Gustav said, adopting a malicious smile, “seeing how she's exactly as vapid as he is brainless, it truly is a match made in heaven.”

“So you never wish you were able to go and chase girls like everyone else?” Chien-lu asked.

Gustav shrugged and stared at the bottle of rosé. “Yeah, I do. It's just … they seem to take a pass on all the girls I'd check out to hit on the closest thing to a bimbo they can find in their socioeconomic category. Apart from Zhyaowan, he just goes for ‘brainless’. I mean, _why_? If they're just concerned with looks, why not get a blow-up doll? Isn't the whole _point_ of dating finding someone you'd like to, y'know, _talk_ to?” He shook his head in disbelief, eyes never leaving the bottle.

Chien-lu leaned back in his chair, silent. He shrugged. “I wouldn't know. My parents don't like me associating with the common folk.”

“With ‘the common folk’ defined as anyone farther back in the succession than you are?” Gustav asked with a wry grin. He already knew the answer.

“Yeah, pretty much”, Chien-lu said with a matching grin. He shook his head slowly. “I'd certainly like to know. Especially about the kissing stuff. It seems vaguely … gross.”

“I can sort of see the appeal”, Gustav said and took a gulp of the wine from the bottle.

Chien-lu appeared deep in thought for a moment, then sat up straight. He, too, drank from the bottle. “So, whatsit?”

“Ehm, intimacy – being close to the other person. A sense of sharing? I can't really explain, sorry”, Gustav said.

Chien-lu tilted his head, then said: “Show me?”

Gustav considered for a moment, then yanked Chien-lu by the collar. Their mouths collided in a sloppy kiss.

As they continued kissing, Zao began to become concerned over a number of things, such as the precise phrasing of the laws on the age of consent (Chien-lu wasn't legal yet), the laws on incest (they were cousins), and how personally awkward it would be for Gustav if he were homosexual (not to mention the potential consequences for the Empire).

Then they finally broke away and looked each other in the eye. Moments passed.

“Let us never talk of that again”, Gustav declared, and took a long gulp from the bottle.

“Amen”, Chien-lu replied, replicating Gistav's actions.

 

*~*

 

“My parents don' let me do anything”, Gustav said, head and arms on the table.

Chien-lu was curled up in his chair. “'S no' true. They letcha see people.”

“From an approved list.”

“Mine don' even lemme into th' garden some days. 'Parently I might get ideas.”

 

*~*

 

Emperor Gustav X was fast asleep by the time Zao was able to make her nightly report. She was going to go and sleep, but was intercepted by the Empress Consort, Lady Maijing Wolzen.

“Evening, milady.”

The Empress gave a lopsided grin. “Morning, actually, if the clock is to be believed. I take it you haven't slept yet?”

“It was a long night”, Zao agreed. “And you?”

The Empress sighed. “Afflicted by a bout of insomnia, I'm afraid. It happens. I believe you were going to make a report to my esteemed husband on how our offspring has done?”

Zao nodded. “Yes, milady.”

The Empress waited a moment, then said: “Go on, make your report – wouldn't want to disturb my husband's good night's sleep.” She smiled, crinkling her face and making the lines on it even clearer. Zao was struck again by how before prolong, time spared no-one. The Empress was merely three years older than Zao, but she was in her forties and Zao looked a decade younger.

“Yes, milady. It seems the Crown Prince has observed his peers' dating lives, and is confused over why they only go after looks – this discussion happened when he and Chien-lu were drinking that bottle of sparkling fortified straw rosé-”

“I'm glad it's gone”, the Empress said, with feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c. 1844  
> My timeline assumes that prolong appeared on New Potsdam during 1827.  
> Gustav XI – born 1828  
> Chien-lu – born 1829  
> Huang – born 1831  
> Gustav X – born 1799 d. 1880  
> Empress Consort Meijiang – b.1801 d.1887  
> Zao Morgenstern – born 1804

**Author's Note:**

> The reason this will be a collection of one-shots rather than just having the one-shots separate is that later on, I'll be introducing people who we've never met in canon (Gustav XI, Huang) and people I made up as major characters (their wives and kids). I recognise some people hate OCs, so it'll all be here, easily avoidable.  
> I do consider myself an able comedic writer, so expect more than one humorous one-shot. And I do promise to concentrate mostly on people we've met.


End file.
